


Just Kidding

by squirrelmort



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Nagisa is an idiot sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 10:25:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17405201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squirrelmort/pseuds/squirrelmort
Summary: After their last day of swim club, Nagisa has something he needs to ask Rei.





	Just Kidding

**Author's Note:**

> For Reigisa week 6, day 1: First/Last

“What’s wrong?” Rei asked when they got off the train. Nagisa was down. He barely spoke the whole way home from the after school party the club had held in place of their last practice to say good-bye to the third years so they could focus on preparing for college.

 

“I’m sad that swim club is over. It’s the whole reason I chose Iwatobi and now…” Nagisa trailed off with a shrug. Rei nodded. 

 

“I’ll miss it, too. It feels like I just joined.” Rei agreed. High school went by so fast.

 

“And I guess I’ll be spending less time with you,” Nagisa added.

 

“Nagisa-kun, we’re in the same class. We don’t need club activities to see each other. And we can spend time together outside school.”

 

“Spend time studying,” Nagisa grumbled.

 

“Yes, we need to prepare for college entrance exams,” Rei said. “However, most research I’ve seen suggests study breaks are extremely beneficial if not downright necessary for learning.” Nagisa seemed to take a moment to consider this.

 

“So, how about a study break this weekend… There’s a movie I want to see,” Nagisa said slowly.

 

“Sure. What movie? I can see if Kou is free--”

 

“No!” Nagisa suddenly interjected. “I mean, I was thinking just you and me.”

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

“Like, um, a date.” Nagisa was staring at his feet. 

 

Rei froze. A date. Nagisa asked him on a date. What? Should Rei have expected this? Maybe Rei heard wrong. Wishful thinking. Wait,  _ wishful _ ? Is this what Rei  _ wishes _ for? “What?”

 

“Just kidding!” Nagisa said. “You should see your face.” Nagisa’s voice was higher than usual. “Anyway, I promised my dad I would pick up a thing on the way home so I need to go. See you tomorrow!” Nagisa practically sprinted off before Rei could respond.

 

What.

 

\----

 

Rei:

5:03 [Are we still going to the movies this weekend?]

5:11 [I have a doctor’s appointment Friday. Is Saturday ok?]

5:45 [Nagisa?]

6:00 [Which movie did you want to see? I can check the times.]

6:37 [Nagisa...]

6:38 [Should we talk?]

 

Nagisa stared at his text notifications. He knew he should respond. He was being too cowardly. Every passing minute made it more obvious he was avoiding Rei. But what could he say? 

 

_ Dammit _ . Why did he have to say something now? He had done a great job of keeping his feelings secret. Graduation was just months away. After that it wouldn’t matter that Rei wasn’t interested. Nagisa could move on. If Rei found out it would be mere weeks before they were off at different colleges and didn’t have to face each other. But instead he just  _ had _ to open his stupid mouth today and ruin everything. His phone buzzed again. Why wouldn’t Rei leave him alone?

 

It was Kou. She had a question about their homework. Which pages they were supposed to read. Nagisa almost answered but hesitated. What if it was a ploy? Rei wanted to prove whether Nagisa was avoiding him or just not checking his phone. Nagisa shook his head. That’s ridiculous. Rei wasn’t that sneaky. Nagisa sent the answer and a few seconds later received a “thanks” in reply. He set his phone to silent and dropped it on his bed.

 

Nagisa didn’t want to face Rei tomorrow. Maybe he could pretend to be sick. The teachers would believe it; there was a cold going around. And then what? Hope that one day was enough for Rei to forget? Or just play sick for the next five months? 

 

He could just pretend nothing had happened. Rei would be too polite to bring it up. Maybe that would work. Nagisa sighed. Obsessing over this wouldn’t help. He put on his headphones and turned up the music loud enough to drown out his thoughts and looked back at his textbook.

 

Rei had probably already solved this math problem.

 

Nagisa turned up the volume even louder. 

 

\---

 

With Nagisa not answering Rei had plenty of time to think over their conversation. He was about 90% sure he heard right--Nagisa had asked him on a date. But then took it back. Was he “just kidding”? It was a weird thing to kid about. Which left Rei’s feelings...

 

The next morning Nagisa still hadn’t answered Rei’s texts. He also wasn’t on the train. Rei didn’t see him until the bell rang and he slipped into his seat just in time. Rei had to wait for the first break time to talk to him. He needed to tell Nagisa his decision before he lost his nerve. He took a deep breath.

 

“Hey, Nagisa-kun?”

 

“Oh, hi, Rei-chan. What’s up?” Nagisa smiled up at him. That seemed like a good sign. 

 

“Did you get my texts?”

 

“Oh, sorry, my battery died. I didn’t even notice until I was about to sleep, and didn’t want to wake you.” Okay, Nagisa wasn’t ignoring him. Rei was just paranoid. It wasn’t like Nagisa to not pay attention to his phone, but not ridiculous. 

 

“Ah. I was just wondering if Saturday was fine for the movie.”

 

“Sorry, Rei-chan. I have to cancel. I promised my parents I’d clean my room Saturday.”

 

“Then how about Sun--” Rei started to say.

 

“It’s  _ really _ messy. Definitely a two-day job,” Nagisa protested.

 

“Perhaps I can help?” Rei suggested.

 

“I can’t ask you to do that.” Nagisa was still smiling, but it looked stiff.

 

“It’s really no problem.”

 

“I don’t think my parents would want me to have anyone over before I finish.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Pretty sure, but I’ll ask,” Nagisa said as he dug through his desk, smile weakening. He pulled out a book. “Can you go? I really need to study for this vocabulary quiz.”

 

“The quiz isn’t until sixth period.”

 

“I  _ really _ need to pass.” Nagisa opened the book and stared intensely at it. Rei wanted to protest but didn’t want to discourage Nagisa’s studies. Nagisa was doing so well this year. Rei could talk to him after school. Besides, it probably was better to talk about with fewer people around.

 

\---

 

Nagisa managed to avoid Rei all day by pretending to study for the English vocab quiz. Honestly, he knew all the words. And he was doing well enough in the class that he could fail it and it wouldn’t matter. But reading the same words over and over was better than trying to deal with yesterday’s disaster. In front of his whole class. Did Rei want to ruin his life? 

 

_ No, he doesn’t. Stop being an idiot _ .

 

Rei was in front of him the moment homeroom ended, ready to get the train back to their neighborhood. “Shall we go?” 

 

“Yeah, just a second, Rei-chan,” Nagisa force a smile as he packed his bag. 

 

“How did the quiz go?” Rei asked as they left the classroom. 

 

_ Easy A _ . “Passed it, thank god. You?” Nagisa kept up his side of the conversation on the way home. By the time they got off the train he was starting to believe Rei wouldn’t bring up Nagisa’s stupidity from the day before. 

 

“About yesterday,” Rei started.  _ Dammit _ . “Did you mean it?”

 

“Mean what?” Nagisa asked. Like an idiot.

 

“Did you mean to ask me on a date?”

 

“It was a joke, Rei-chan,” Nagisa said. “Anyway, I need to go home. I said I would help my sister with the thing.”  Rei grabbed Nagisa’s wrist before he could escape, although they continued walking slowly toward Nagisa’s house.

 

“She can wait.”

 

“It’s really urgent.”

 

“What is the thing?”

 

“A… brother-sister thing.” Nagisa cursed himself. Come on, he could say anything. Dishes. Cooking. 

 

“Why did you joke about that?” Rei asked. 

 

“I don’t know. Because,” Nagisa answered.  _ Because I like you _ . “I was sad. It was the last day of clubs. We’ll graduate in March, and… that’s it. I might never see you again.” Nagisa felt the tears build up in his eyes. He didn’t want to think about life after graduation.

 

“Nagisa-kun, don’t be ridiculous.” Rei stopped walking, forcing Nagisa to stop.

 

“I’m not. We’re going to graduate and you’ll go off to some  _ amazing _ school and I’ll never see you again.” The tears were out of his eyes now. No stopping them.

 

“We’ll definitely see each other again.”

 

“What if we don’t?”

 

“We will,” Rei said. He turned to look at Nagisa. “Listen, I was surprised yesterday. It was the first time anyone asked me out. But I’ve made my decision. I will go on a date with you.”

 

Nagisa almost choked on air. “I told you I was kidding.”

 

“I’m not.” Rei took a breath. “Nagisa-kun, will you go on a date with me?”

 

Nagisa wiped the tears from his eyes. “You don’t have to do this.”

 

“I  _ want _ to do this. I  _ want _ to go on a date with you. Do you want to go on a date with me?” Rei stared at Nagisa, waiting for an answer. 

 

_ Yes _ . “I don’t know, Rei-chan. What did you have in mind?”

 

“What?”

 

“For the date. What did you want to do?”

 

Rei blinked. “Um, a movie. Maybe dinner.”

 

“Not very original, but I guess that would work,” Nagisa replied. He extracted his wrist from Rei’s hand so they could hold hands instead. 

 

“Did you have a better idea?”

 

“Movie and lunch,” Nagisa answered as they started walking again. “Morning showings are cheaper.” 

 

“Fair point,” Rei agreed. Nagisa used his free hand to rub his nose; it was stuffed up from crying.

 

“Do you have a tissue?” 

 

“I think there’s one in my backpack.” Rei tried to remove his hand from Nagisa’s to reach into his bag, but Nagisa held on tight.

 

“It can wait.” 


End file.
